Tropical storm Erika threatens eastern Caribbean

Santo Domingo.- Tropical storm Erika, the fifth of the Atlantic hurricane season, is threatening the Leeward Islands in its swift advance towards the Caribbean, according to the United States National Hurricane Center.

Erika, with maximum sustained winds of 75 kph, is 1,205 km east of the Leewards and is moving westwards at a speed of 31 kph, according to the NHC 12:00 GMT bulletin. Its track is expected to change from west to west-northwest and based on this projection, the center of Erika will reach the islands this evening and the early hours of Thursday morning.

Forecasters are warning that Erika is expected to strengthen and it could become a Category One hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale by this weekend.

The five-day projection cone indicates that the storm could affect part of Florida.

In the Dominican Republic, the Emergency Operations Center (COE) has issued a green alert for the following provinces: La Altagracia, La Romana, San Pedro de Macorís, Greater Santo Domingo, Duarte, María Trinidad Sánchez and La Vega, for potential urban and rural flooding and landslides caused by the low-pressure system formerly known as hurricane Danny, which was downgraded earlier this week.